welcome to al jazeera america, i'm del walters. these are the stories we are covering for you. a british soldier murdered in brood daylight, his killers learn their fate today. and russia orders military drills that it says are not related to the events in ukraine. lawmakers drill bankers that allegedly helped americans hide billions of dollars. ♪

it was a crime that was as gruesome as it was publish. a british soldier run over and then hacked to death in the middle of the day. in the video you see the men walking around holding the knives they used to commit the crime, never trying to run away or hide their faces. today we're learning their fate. phil lavel is live in london today. and these sentences are not cut and dry? >> reporter: no, they are not. and we're waiting for that to happen. we are told it will happen hopefully in the next half hour or so. this is turning into some of a political protest here today. there is a huge police presence. there are 30 or 40 armed police

officers surrounding the court. there are people demanding that these killers at least be locked up for life. at one point they were surrounding the entrance to the court. the police were clearly very concerned. they were blocking the entrance to the court where these trials took place and these sentences will be handed down shortly. this crime appalled and shocked many, this was a case of a 25-year-old father of two walking down the street in london, when he was run over by a car. he was pulled along the pavement. he was stabbed multiple times and at 1.1 of the killers tried to cut his head off with a

cleaver. and afterwards they stayed there, and spoke to a woman who tried to challenge them. they calmly waited for police. when police did arrive, they ran at the police. they knew the armed officers would shoot at them. that was part of the plan. one said he wanted to be shot and go to paradise to become a martyr. that did not happen, they were incapacitated by the bullets and went on to make a full recovery. they picked lee rigby specifically because he was a soldier. they were fighting a war against british foreign policy. they said lee rigby was effectively a consequence of this war. so we're expecting these

verdicts any moment now. >> phil reporting from london for us. thank you very much. we are seeing today a divided ukraine. protesters in the streets of eastern ukraine and the west. >> reporter: the tartar supporters came out emphatica y emphatically, they shouted crimea is not russia, get out. deputies were to meet inside the regional parliament to discuss crimea's future, but the muslim minority has been alarmed. >> it's outraged by

information -- information about crime in parliament, wants to separate our muslim crimea from ukraine state. >> reporter: here were different supporters, banded together to defend their interests. some want crimea to turn to russia, others for the region to have greater autonomy. this is the contest over who can shout the loudest, who has the largest number of supporters, and who cares more about the future of crimea and ukraine. police looked pressured and understaffed. it may not be up to them but the politicians to keep the peace. crimea should choose peace this man's sign reads, but he looks like a loan voice and it is unclear who is ready to listen. and again the divisions in the west of ukraine, those riot

police who fought against the opposition for months have been disbanded, and in the east russia conducting military drills on the border. our coverage continues now with jennifer glasse. jennifer describe your situation there. >> reporter: this morning we came across a whole group of russian protesters. they had an open mic morning. they sent bus loads of people to the demonstrations that you saw, those clashes in the regional capitol just about an hour away. but very aggressive towards us because we're foreigners. yankee go home, i was hold because they think we're lying. the protesters very much unhappy with developments this kiev. so you feel left out?

>> yeah, yeah. they just follow they -- they direction. we are staying aside, yeah. but now we will fight, yeah. >> reporter: del one of the things they are most unhappy about here is the fact that kiev on sunday made ukrainian the official language of the country. and that they that means they are left out. virtually everyone here speaks russian. this is about a 90% russian population, and russian culture. they feel they weren't consulted at all with the developments that happened in kiev. they don't see that government as their government. they want to determine their own destiny now. >> and the president still on the lamb. do we have any idea where he might be? >> reporter: the trail ran cold here monday not far from here,

just a couple of miles up the road. we understand his son owns a lot of land there. that's where he was last thought to be seen. he tried to leave from an airport and was blocked, drove in a convoy to the area, and that's where the trail runs cold. american banks are on the lookout for bank transactions for the millions and millions he is accused of stealing. and there is a warrant out for the murder of the people killed last week. you hear about crowd sourcing for building a business. there's crowd sourcing here. there's a facebook page where ukrainians can give money for a reward if he is captured and that is now up to over 300,000

dollars. >> jennifer thank you very much. russia is now conducting military drills on its border with ukraine. and these drills are a sign that russia is readying now to join the fight? >> reporter: well, i think there has been a lot of speculation that these military alerts are somehow connected with what is going on in ukraine. now that is speculation that russia's defense minister has gone to some pains to dismiss. he is saying it has nothing to do with what is going on in ukraine at all; that basically the russia military goes through these kinds of tests fairly frequently. there have been six of them since february of 2013. and essentially what they are designed to do according to the defense minister, is -- is kind

shape up the russian military and put it through its paces to make sure the air force and the army and the navy will respond as well as they can to any perceived threats, and they can't announce these things before they are going to happen because that would defeat the whole point of it, that these armed personnel need to be basically shocked into it, and to think that there is something real going on. but i think it would have gone through the heads of many people fairly high up in the russian government, giving a bit of display of russian military might, and show it off to its neighbors at a time when russian influence has taken a bit of a

knock. >> rory thank you very much. again, russia saying it was all part of scheduled drills. leaders of switzerland's second largest bank said they knew nothing about people using swiss banks to dodge taxes. the hearing coming a day after a senate report that said that americans were hiding as much as $12 million in swiss banks. >> and now the jig is up, you say you can't cooperate because of swiss secrecy laws. those laws don't apply in the united states. you are operating in the united states. >> the bank admits some past misconduct by employees but the executive new nothing about it. georgia debating whether to allow discrimination of gays based on religious beliefs.

robert there is a delay in the proceedings, do we know why? >> reporter: indeed. they were supposed to meet in the state capitol this morning. they said they were going to have some provisions to the bill. perhaps they weren't ready to speak about the bill. maybe it's pub back from businesses or maybe it's the outrage they are seeing in arizona. but the bill basically says -- it allows any individual or for-profit company who believe that homosexuality is a sin, to openly discriminate against them by denying them employment or banning them from restaurants or hotels. the architect of the bill has said this is not about discrimination, this is about religious freedom. here is some of what he also said. >> we have a 20-year legislation

history on this issue. it has never been used or certainly not successfully used. >> reporter: all the mayor from atlanta who is pro gay and lesbian, also there is a mayor gay and lesbian population here, he is all for advocating gays and lesbian. here is what he had to say. >> we have taken some time to evolve on this issue, i was a long time supporter of civil unions, but i believe in equal protection under the constitution, and gay and lesbian couples should have the same rights that you and i have. >> reporter: also breaking news this morning, delta airlines a major employer here in the united states and internationally, coming out with a statement, they said delta strongly opposes these measures and we join the business community in urging state officials to reject these

proposals. so some big pushback from a major employer. del? >> reporter: robert thank you very much. the old saying is true, a picture can be worth a thousand words. i want to show you this image. these are palestinian refugees as far as the eye can see. all of them lining up for aide. they are in a refugee camp in damascus where food and medicine have been scarce. take a look. the un releasing the photo, the commissioner of the united nations work and relief agency saying he was disturbed and shaken by what he saw. next on al jazeera america, nine years ago, hurricane katrina striking new orleans. a new levy system put in place to prevent disaster, but that one is failing. ♪

>> i'm ali velshi, the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news. >> heavily armed, combat tactics >> every little podunk wants their tank and their bazooka... >> with s.w.a.t. raids on the rise... >> when it goes wrong, it goes extremely wrong... >> what's the price for militarizing our police >> they killed evan dead >> faul lines, al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> there blocking the door... >> ground breaking... >> we have to get out of here... >> truth seeking... break though investigative documentary series... new episode, deadly force only on al jazeera america

nine years ago, new orleans looked like this, hurricane katrina, exposing a failing infrastructure, and a levy that just couldn't contain the flood waters. now nine years and 1400 deaths later, the new levy system is already failing. ben lamoin has more. >> how are you girls doing? good? >> reporter: katie's restaurant in mid-city new orleans is known for its seafood. >> really nice shrimp right out of the gulf of mexico. >> reporter: it took the owner nearly five years to reopen. >> i didn't have the finances. you know, i had to basically go out and wosh -- work, rebuild, and put all of the money i made back into this.

>> reporter: because new orleans is between two to 20 below sea level in some places, the army corps of engineers has built a new levy system to protect the area. right here there is already a problem. a near-one-mile stretch of levy has already sunk up to six inches more than expected. >> one thing with southeast louisiana is we are continually subsiding. very challenging area to build on. >> reporter: while the difference of a few inches may not seem like much, most new orleans residents know it is. what is the guarantee? how do people know this is making me safe? >> there is no guarantees in

anything, but what we can point to is 2012 we had hurricane isaac, the system as a whole was complete, and did exactly what it was supposed to do. >> when you ask me questions about the levy system, i don't think we have a whole lot of faith, a lot of us don't. because i am petrified of losing this again. i really don't want to go through when we went through. >> reporter: soon the army corps of engineers will turn over the maintenance to the state. >> we're going to try to put in some instruments to measure the subsidence. >> reporter: scott craig is grateful for the protection, but worries nonetheless. >> the state of louisiana has a

stake in it. the state of louisiana is well aware of what could happen if these levies fail again. the greatest city in this state probably won't come back. how are we doing guys? >> reporter: he and others hope the engineering promises will hold. president obama is traveling to minnesota today. he'll focus on improving america's infrastructure. the president wants to invest billions to upgrade the country's bridges, highways, and transit system, the white house says the proposal will help create jobs. ♪ wall street in the green at this hour all due to a redate in home sales. right up up 56 points. s&p also eyeing a new record. the huge data breach at target affecting their bottom

line. they said their profits dropped 26%. federal prosecutors in manhattan issuing subpoenas to bit kocoin dealers. the attacks caused tokyo's system to shut down earlier this month. consumers may soon be able to switch between cell phone carriers, without being charged. the house passing a bill that allows you to illegally contract your phone. if you unlock a phone without permission from the carrier, you could face charges. the biggest break through since antibiotics, a doctor's

new and innovative way to help its patients. and it looks real fast but wait to you see how fast when we come back.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are your headlines gnat hour. it is sentencing day for two men convicted of killing a british soldier last may. lee rigby run over by a car and then hacked to death. his killers now facing life in prison. in ukraine protesters are taking to the streets in the east. russia is conducting military drills on the border. russia says the exercises have nothing to do with the civil unrest in ukraine. and the refugee crisis in syria is only getting worse. the people are palestinians who went to syria, to try to escape the violence before that countries bloody civil war broke out. 3-d printers are rapidly

changing the way everything is made. but now they are being used to repair damage to the human body. daniel takes a look at one that can make human skin. >> this is the printer cartridge -- >> this is the printer cartridge. >> reporter: leanne is working on a phd in chemical engineering, machines fascinate her. this is a 3-d printer that should be able to produce human skin from a patient's own cells. when the prototype is ready the cells will go in to inkjet printer nozzles, and they will produce enough skin for a graft for a patient with severe burns. >> we're very disconnected to burns, it's not something you really come across that much, so to see the impact and the intricacy of how skin needs to

be regenerated, how -- how the -- the time scale is very important in terms of saving someone's life, so there's a lot to take into account, yeah. >> reporter: burns are horrific injuries. at present skin is transplanted from another part of the body on the burn, healing is is slow, scarring is likely. this could be the biggest break through for them since antibiotics. >> we can mimic your original skin resulting in complete healing and almost no scar. >> reporter: and not just skin, it might be possible to use the technology in leanne's printer to produce entire organs for transpant. >> we're engineers, train as an engineer, and graduate students in post doctorates, and researcher in this project are trained from different angles,

middling micro systems, right? and so it is important that these different disciplines work together. >> reporter: the inventors hope to produce a device that is relatively cheap and portable. and could safe the lives of burn victims around the world. it could make it one of the biggest and most productive steps forward for 3-d printing technology. i'm meteorologist dave. another round of winter weather here in the north sh plains. there is a blizzard warning in effect through minnesota west of the great lakes as the wind will start to pick up creating blowing and drifting snow, very cold wind chills coming into this area. there was melting snow and that lead to flooding fronts. this is coming in from ohio and

these are rising river levels, and flood warnings are in effect because of all of these ice jams, jamming up the river there. near are the temperatures down to 1 in minneapolis, chicago is at 6. look what happens when you factor in the wind, wind chill 25 below in minneapolis, 14 below in fargo. here is some snow across the mid-atlantic, it is ending now. just one or two inches on maybe some surfaces that weren't treated, so watch the roads. 34 in washington. richmond at 36 degrees. here is this storm moving out. the snow will be clearing out. rain to the south, but this is all moving out. high-pressure building up, and that will be taking control here, giving us clear skies, but as the second storm comes down, that's what creates the wind and

bitter cold temperatures. to the west of that, between the low and the high, we get that gusty wind that brings in another shot of arctic air across chicago and the mideast. a welcome storm is happening here across the southwest. there is some rain moving into california as the storm intensifies. here comes rain and snow where we need it, maybe close to two feet of snow coming down in the mountains of california. so helping the drought situation. certainly a welcome site there. dave, thank you very much. there is a new king of speed in the automotive world. we should slow it down. the venom gt.

by the way they still have to do it a second time to get into the again us in book of world records, and if you want to buy one, they cost a million dollars. thanks for watching. i'm del walters in new york. "inside story" is next. . >> can the island get back on track economically? it's the inside story. [♪ music ] >> hello, i'm ray suarez. many citizens on the mainland t